Thermal deformation determination for payload pointing using space-based beacon

ABSTRACT

A system and associated method for compensating for thermal deformation of a spaced-based structure having a spacecraft payload. The system including a beacon source coupled to a first spacecraft for transmitting a first signal and a beacon sensor coupled to a second spacecraft for receiving the first signal and providing measurement data derived from the first signal. At least one attitude sensing device is coupled to the second spacecraft for determining estimated spacecraft attitude data for the second spacecraft. A processor on the second spacecraft is configured to process ephemeris data of the first and second spacecraft, beacon measurement data, estimated spacecraft attitude data, and gimbal angular position data to estimate spacecraft structural deformation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to spacecraft attitudedetermination and control systems, and more specifically to a method andsystem for determining spacecraft structural thermal deformation using aspace-based beacon for accurate spacecraft pointing.

BACKGROUND

Inaccurate pointing of a spacecraft payload can significantly reducespacecraft effectiveness. For example, inaccurate pointing of acommunication antenna can significantly reduce spacecraft communicationthroughput as well as reduce the communication coverage.

Structural thermal deformation is always a major error contributor tospacecraft payload pointing. Accordingly, to achieve high pointingaccuracy, the amount of spacecraft structural thermal deformation needsto be accurately determined and compensated.

As a result, there is a need for achieving high pointing accuracy of aspacecraft by accurately accounting for spacecraft structural thermaldeformation.

SUMMARY

A method is disclosed herein for achieving payload pointing accuracy ofa spacecraft, such as a communications satellite. The pointing accuracyis achieved by accurately accounting for spacecraft structural thermaldeformation. This accuracy is determined by using a spaced-based beaconfrom another spacecraft. This spaced-based beacon may be a beacondedicated for use in the present invention. Alternatively, the beaconmay have other uses such an RF cross-links or laser cross-links of thetwo spacecraft.

In one aspect of the invention, a method of determining structuralthermal deformation is provided. The method includes the acts of: methodof determining structural thermal deformation comprising: determiningephemeris of a first spacecraft and a second spacecraft; receiving abeacon from the second spacecraft at a beacon sensor co-located with apayload of the first spacecraft; determining the direction of thereceived beacon with respect to the attitude of the first spacecraft;determining the attitude of the first spacecraft using at least oneattitude sensor; and calculating a structural thermal deformationbetween the at least one attitude sensor and the payload using theephemeris of the first and second spacecraft, the direction of thereceived beacon, and the attitude of the first spacecraft.

In another aspect of the present invention, a spacecraft operable tomeasure structural thermal deformation between a payload and at leastone attitude sensor configured to determine an attitude of thespacecraft is provided. The spacecraft includes: a beacon sensorco-located with the payload; and a processor configured to calculate thestructural thermal deformation between the at least one attitude sensorand the payload using an ephemeris of the first and second spacecraft, adirection of the received beacon with respect to the beacon sensor, andthe attitude of the spacecraft.

In another aspect of the invention, a satellite system is provided. Thesystem includes: a beacon source in a first Earth orbiting spacecraft; abeacon sensor in a second Earth orbiting spacecraft to receive thebeacon from the beacon source, the beacon sensor being co-located with agimbal-mounted payload; means for determining a first direction vectorfor the received beacon in a spacecraft frame of reference that does notinclude thermal deformation and for determining a second directionvector for the received beacon that does include thermal deformation;and means for determining thermal deformation angles that are used tocorrect for the thermal deformation based upon the first and seconddirection vectors.

Beneficially, the present invention enables precision attitude controlsystem design that does not rely on any ground-based beacons. Thisfeature is advantageous because a ground-based beacon is not alwaysavailable for various reasons. In addition, certain spacecraft payloadssuch as RF and laser cross-link antennas may not be Earth pointed andrequire space based beacons for pointing references.

By accurately determining structural thermal deformation, the presentinvention enables the reduction of spacecraft payload pointing error bytwo to three times.

The scope of the invention is defined by the claims, which areincorporated into this section by reference. A more completeunderstanding of embodiments of the present invention will be affordedto those skilled in the art, as well as a realization of additionaladvantages thereof, by a consideration of the following detaileddescription of one or more embodiments. Reference will be made to theappended sheets of drawings that will first be described briefly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a beacon transmitting spacecraft and a beaconreceiving spacecraft in orbit around the Earth.

FIG. 2 is a simplified illustration of the beacon receiving spacecraftin accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a computational diagram for a calculation of thermaldeformation for the beacon receiving spacecraft in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for a calculation of thermal deformation for thebeacon receiving spacecraft in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

Embodiments of the present invention and their advantages are bestunderstood by referring to the detailed description that follows. Itshould be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identifylike elements illustrated in one or more of the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention provides a solution for spacecraft structural thermaldeformation determination using a space-based beacon to improvespacecraft pointing error. Turning now to the Figures, FIG. a firstspacecraft 100 and a second spacecraft 102 are shown in orbit in FIG. 1.First spacecraft 100 and second spacecraft 102 can be any type ofspacecraft that are capable of being placed in Earth orbiting orbits. Aswill be described further herein, second spacecraft 102 may correct forthermal deformation that affects pointing of a payload in a specificdirection by processing a beacon signal 104 received from firstspacecraft 100. First spacecraft 100 and second spacecraft 102 may be,for example, communications satellites with Earth pointing antennas orcross-link antennas, which need to be pointed accurately. The firstspacecraft 100 may be a spacecraft that carries only beacon sources,such as a GPS spacecraft.

FIG. 2 is a simplified view of an exemplary spacecraft 200, whichrepresents an embodiment of either first spacecraft 100 or secondspacecraft 102. Should spacecraft 200 represent an embodiment of firstspacecraft 100, it will include a beacon source 202. Beacon source 202transmits beacon signal 104, which can be received by second spacecraft102 (see FIG. 1). Beacon source 202 in spacecraft 200 can be a dedicatedsignal source specifically used to assist the pointing of thespacecraft. Alternatively, beacon source 202 can be an RF or lasercrosslink that is used to establish a communication link betweenspacecrafts.

Alternatively, should spacecraft 200 represent an embodiment of secondspacecraft 102, it will include a beacon sensor 204, a spacecraftpayload 206, a processor disposed in spacecraft bus 208, and at leastone attitude sensor 210, such as a star tracker. Beacon sensor 204 maybe co-located with spacecraft payload 206, or alternatively, beaconsensor 204 may not be required if, for example, spacecraft payload 206provides the same functionality as beacon sensor 204.

Spacecraft payload 206 may be any payload that requires precisepointing, such as a phased array antenna, a laser communicationterminal, and the like. Spacecraft payload 206 is mechanically coupledto spacecraft 200 and is therefore subject to perturbations caused bythe thermal deformation of the structural components of spacecraft 200,even though star tracker 210 mounted on spacecraft bus 208 can provideaccurate pointing of spacecraft bus 208. It is the structuralperturbations between star tracker 210 and spacecraft payload 206 thatmay cause the pointing accuracy of spacecraft payload 206 to bedegraded. The pointing (orientation) of spacecraft payload 206 may besteered by mechanical gimbals. Alternatively, payload 206 may be fixedwith respect to spacecraft bus 208.

As will be explained further herein, the accounting for the structuralperturbations causing pointing accuracy degradation for payload 206 usesephemeris of first spacecraft 100 and second spacecraft 102. Ephemerisof first spacecraft 100 and second spacecraft 102 can be uploaded fromground to second spacecraft 102. Alternatively, ephemeris of firstspacecraft 100 can be computed by a processor located on-board secondspacecraft 102. In addition to the ephemeris just described, thepointing attitude of the second spacecraft 102 as measured by the one toa plurality of attitude sensors 210, such as star trackers and the like,and also the pointing angle of the received beacon 104 with respect topayload 106 are also used to determine the structural thermaldeformation. Given the ephemeris of first spacecraft 100 and secondspacecraft 102, the pointing angle of received beacon signal 104 withrespect to payload 106, and the estimated attitude of second spacecraft102, the processor on second spacecraft 102 computes direction vectorsof beacon signal 104.

As described in detail below, the direction vectors are computed in tworepresentative coordinate frames. The first frame is defined prior tostructural thermal deformation. The second frame is defined by includingthe deformation. In accordance with the present invention, the twodirection vectors are used to determine the thermal deformation betweenstar tracker 210 and spacecraft payload 206. Quantifying the thermaldeformation in this manner makes it possible to account for andcompensate for pointing errors caused by the thermal deformation. Thedetermination of the direction vectors will now be further explained asfollows.

A) Direction Vector Determination

The calculation of the direction vectors for received beacon 104 may bebetter understood with reference to a computational diagram shown inFIG. 3. A direction vector determination 302 for the received beacon 104depends, in part, upon spacecraft attitude estimates from a spacecraftattitude determination 310 based upon measurements made by the at leastone attitude sensor 210. Direction vector determination also dependsupon spacecraft ephemeris 306 that includes the ephemeris for the sourceof beacon 104 at spacecraft 100 and the ephemeris for spacecraft 102. Inaddition, direction vector determination also depends upon the pointingangle for received beacon 104. In embodiments wherein payload 206 (andhence beacon sensor 204) mounts to spacecraft 102 through payloadgimbals 302, the pointing angle for the received beacon 104 will dependupon payload gimbal angles. In addition, the pointing angle will alsodepend upon beacon sensor measurements 304.

Upon processing this information, it may be shown that the unit beaconvector in inertial reference frame is given as follows:${{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}} = \frac{{{}_{}^{}\left. v \right.\hat{}_{}^{}} - {{}_{}^{}\left. v \right.\hat{}_{}^{}}}{\,{^{i}{{\hat{v}}_{SC\_ beacon} - {{}_{}^{}\left. v \right.\hat{}_{}^{}}}}}$where ^(i){circumflex over (v)}_(SC) _(—) _(sensor) is the positionvector of beacon sensor 204 in the inertial frame of reference ascomputed from spacecraft ephemeris for spacecraft 102, and^(i){circumflex over (v)}_(SC) _(—) _(beacon) is the position vector offirst spacecraft 100 (and hence the position vector for the source ofbeacon 104) in the inertial frame of reference as computed fromspacecraft ephemeris for first spacecraft 100.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill that what isultimately desired to be determined is the impact of thermal structuraldeformation on the orientation of payload 206. This impact may bedefined with respect to roll (θ_(x)), pitch (θ_(y)) and yaw (θ_(z))angles with respect to the spacecraft frame of reference as shown inFIG. 2. These angles form a vector {circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF). Thegimbal angles for payload 206 may then be adjusted accordingly tocorrect for this thermal deformation effect as represented by vector{circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF). Alternatively, the orientation ofspacecraft 102 may be adjusted should payload 106 be rigidly mounted tospacecraft 102 without the use of gimbals.

To derive {circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF) from ^(i)û_(beacon), it may beshown that these two variables are related as follows:^(i) û _(beacon) =C _(SC) _(—) _(i)(q _(SC))^(T) C _(SCDEF) _(—)_(SC)({circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF))^(T) C _(sensorGIM) _(—)_(SCDEF)({circumflex over (θ)}_(ALIGN))^(T) C _(sensorLOS) _(—)_(sensorGIM)({circumflex over (θ)}_(sensorGIM))^(T sensorLOS) û_(beacon)where C_(SC) _(i) (q_(SC)) is the direction cosine matrix from inertialframe to spacecraft frame, q_(SC) is the quoterion of spacecraftattitude in inertial frame that is determined by spacecraft attitudedetermination, C_(SCDEF) _(SC) ({circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF)) is thedirection cosine matrix from spacecraft frame to the frame afterstructural deformation, ${\hat{\theta}}_{DEF} = \begin{bmatrix}\theta_{x} \\\theta_{y} \\\theta_{z}\end{bmatrix}$is the angular vector as just described, C_(sensorGIM) _(—)_(SCDEF)({circumflex over (θ)}_(ALIGN)) is the alignment directioncosine matrix of beacon sensor gimbals, {circumflex over (θ)}_(ALIGN) isthe known alignment angular vector, C_(sensorLOS) _(—)_(sensorGIM)({circumflex over (θ)}_(sensorGIM)) is the direction cosinematrix from sensor gimbals base frame to sensor LOS frame, {circumflexover (θ)}_(sensorGIM) is the gimbals axes rotation vector that is knownor is measured by gimbals control subsystem, and ^(sensorLOS){circumflexover (θ)}_(beacon) is the unit beacon vector in sensor LOS frame that ismeasured by beacon sensor 204.

To solve for {circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF), the preceding expression for^(i){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon) may be rewritten as follows:$\begin{matrix}{{\begin{bmatrix}1 & \theta_{z} & {- \theta_{y}} \\{- \theta_{z}} & 1 & \theta_{x} \\\theta_{y} & {- \theta_{x}} & 1\end{bmatrix}{{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}}} = {{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}}} & {{Equation}\quad(1)}\end{matrix}$where ^(SC){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon) is the unit direction vectorfor the beacon in the spacecraft 102 frame of reference without thermaldeformation, and ^(SCDEF){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon) is the unitdirection vector for the beacon in the spacecraft 102 frame of referencewith thermal deformation. The vector ^(SC){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon)is related to the ^(i){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon) vector by thefollowing relationship:${{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}} = {{{C_{SC\_ i}\left( q_{SC} \right)}{{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}}} = \begin{bmatrix}a_{1} \\a_{2} \\a_{3}\end{bmatrix}}$whereas the vector ^(SCDEF){circumflex over (θ)}_(beacon) may bedetermined from the following expression:${{}_{}^{}\left. u \right.\hat{}_{}^{}} = {{{C_{sensorGIM\_ SCDEF}\left( {\hat{\theta}}_{ALIGN} \right)}^{T}{C_{sensorLOS\_ sensorGIM}\left( {\hat{\theta}}_{sensorGIM} \right)}^{TsensorLOS}{\,{\hat{u}}_{beacon}}} = \begin{bmatrix}b_{1} \\b_{2} \\b_{3}\end{bmatrix}}$where the variables are defined as discussed above. Using theseexpressions for vectors ^(SCDEF)û_(beacon) and ^(SC)û_(beacon), equation(1) may be rewritten as: $\begin{matrix}{{\begin{bmatrix}0 & {- a_{3}} & a_{2} \\a_{3} & 0 & {- a_{1}} \\{- a_{2}} & a_{1} & 0\end{bmatrix}\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}\theta_{x} \\\theta_{y} \\\theta_{z}\end{matrix}\quad \right\rbrack} = {\begin{bmatrix}{b_{1} - a_{1}} \\{b_{2} - a_{2}} \\{b_{3} - a_{3}}\end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix}m_{1} \\m_{2} \\m_{3}\end{bmatrix}}} & {{Equation}\quad(2)}\end{matrix}$

Equation (2) is the measurement equation of structural thermaldeformation. As set forth above, the parameters of this equation arecomputed from gimbals alignment angles and gimbals axes angles (302),beacon sensor measurements (304), spacecraft positions of firstspacecraft 100 and second spacecraft 102 from their respective ephemeris(306), and spacecraft attitude estimates (310). Equation (2) may besimplified to: $\begin{matrix}{{{H\quad\theta_{DEF}} = {M\quad{where}}}{{H = \begin{bmatrix}0 & {- a_{3}} & a_{2} \\a_{3} & 0 & {- a_{1}} \\{- a_{2}} & a_{1} & 0\end{bmatrix}},\quad{M = {\begin{bmatrix}m_{1} \\m_{2} \\m_{3}\end{bmatrix}.}}}} & {{Equation}\quad(3)}\end{matrix}$By solving Equation (3) for the variable θ_(DEF), the effect ofstructural thermal deformation of second spacecraft 102 between attitudesensor 210 and beacon sensor 204 (and therefore the spacecraft payload206) can be determined.B) Thermal Deformation Update Equation

It will be appreciated that to continuously receive beacon signal 104may be impossible due to the fact that the payload pointing angle is notfixed and may be steered away from the beacon source from time to time.However, due to regular heating of a geosynchronous satellite by thesun, the thermal deformation is predictable and repeatable over a24-hour period. Accordingly, the structural thermal deformation of thesecond spacecraft 102 over time may be modeled and predicted, using, forexample, harmonic analysis. The model may be updated based upon periodicupdates. Alternatively, the model may be updated using non-periodicupdates.

For example, due to the periodic nature of the spacecraft thermalenvironment in Earth orbit, structural thermal deformation over time canbe decomposed into harmonic components in a harmonic equation asfollows: $\begin{bmatrix}{x_{1{\_ s}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{x_{1{\_ c}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\\vdots \\{x_{1{\_ s}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{x_{N\_ c}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{y_{1{\_ s}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{y_{1{\_ c}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\\vdots \\{{y_{N\_ s}}_{\quad}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{y_{N\_ c}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{z_{1{\_ s}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{z_{1{\_ c}}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\\vdots \\{z_{N\_ s}\left( {k + 1} \right)} \\{z_{N\_ c}\left( {k + 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix} = {\begin{bmatrix}c_{\omega_{1}} & s_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\{- s_{\omega_{1}}} & s_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & ⋰ & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & c_{\omega_{s}} & s_{\omega_{s}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & {- s_{\omega_{s}}} & c_{\omega_{s}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & c_{\omega_{1}} & s_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & {- s_{\omega_{1}}} & c_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & ⋰ & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & c_{\omega_{s}} & s_{\omega_{s}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & {- s_{\omega_{s}}} & c_{\omega_{s}} & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & c_{\omega_{1}} & s_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & {- s_{\omega_{1}}} & c_{\omega_{1}} & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & ⋰ & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & c_{\omega_{s}} & s_{\omega_{s}} \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & {- s_{\omega_{s}}} & c_{\omega_{s}}\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}{x_{1{\_ s}}(k)} \\{x_{1{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{x_{N\_ s}(k)} \\{x_{N\_ c}(k)} \\{y_{1{\_ s}}(k)} \\{y_{1{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{y_{\quad{N\_ s}}(k)} \\{y_{N\_ c}(k)} \\{z_{1{\_ s}}(k)} \\{z_{1{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{z_{N\_ s}(k)} \\{z_{N\_ c}(k)}\end{bmatrix}}$where c_(ω) _(i) =cos ω_(i)Δt, s_(ω) _(i) =sin ω_(i)Δt are the sine andcosine functions of the i^(th) harmonic frequency of the spacecraftorbit period, and x_(i) _(—) _(s), x_(i) _(—) _(c), y_(i) _(—) _(s),y_(i) _(—) _(c), z_(i) _(—) _(s), z_(i) _(—) _(c) are the i^(th)harmonics components of thermal deformation in x-, y-, z-axes as shownin FIG. 2. In this example, the indices k and k+1 represent arbitraryperiodic sampling times separated by the sampling period. It will beappreciated, however, that this harmonic analysis may be generalized fornon-periodic updates.

Therefore, the structural thermal deformation determination updateequation can be represented by: $\begin{bmatrix}{\theta_{x}(k)} \\{\theta_{y}(k)} \\{\theta_{z}(k)}\end{bmatrix} = {\begin{bmatrix}1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 & 1 & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 & 1 & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad \\\quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & \quad & 1 & 1 & \cdots & 1 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}{x_{1{\_ s}}(k)} \\{x_{1\quad{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{x_{N\_ s}(k)} \\{x_{{N\_ c} -}(k)} \\{y_{1{\_ s}}(k)} \\{y_{1\quad{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{y_{\quad{N\_ s}}(k)} \\{y_{N\_ c}(k)} \\{z_{1\quad{\_ s}}(k)} \\{z_{1\quad{\_ c}}(k)} \\\vdots \\{z_{N\_ s}(k)} \\{z_{N\_ c}(k)}\end{bmatrix}}$The harmonic equation and thermal deformation update equation can bewritten in the following simplified matrix and vector forms:V _(k+1) =AV _(k)θ_(DEF) _(—) _(k) =CV _(k)C) Thermal Deformation Estimation Equations

Combining Equation (3) with the preceding harmonic and thermal updateequations yields the following estimation equations to determinestructural thermal deformation (s406):{circumflex over (V)}_(k+1) =A{circumflex over (V)} _(k) +G(M _(k) −H_(k) C{circumflex over (V)} _(k)){circumflex over (θ)}_(DEF) _(—) _(k) =C{circumflex over (V)} _(k)where G is the estimation gain matrix. The thermal deformationcalculation and model update process may be summarized with respect to aflowchart 400 shown in FIG. 4.

Embodiments described above illustrate but do not limit the invention.It should also be understood that numerous modifications and variationsare possible in accordance with the principles of the present invention.Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined only by the followingclaims.

1. A method of determining structural thermal deformation comprising:determining ephemeris of a first spacecraft and a second spacecraft;receiving a beacon from the first spacecraft at a beacon sensorco-located with a payload of the second spacecraft; determining thedirection of the received beacon using the ephemeris of the first andsecond spacecraft; determining the attitude of the second spacecraftfrom measurements of at least one attitude sensor; and calculating astructural thermal deformation between the at least one attitude sensorand the payload using the ephemeris of the first and second spacecraft,the direction of the received beacon, and the attitude of the firstspacecraft.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculating actcomprises calculating a direction vector for the received beacon in afirst frame of reference and a second frame of reference, wherein thefirst frame of reference is defined without the structural thermaldeformation and the second frame of reference includes the structuralthermal deformation.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the beacon sensorand the payload comprise the same structure.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one attitude sensor comprises a star tracker. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the received beacon comprises an RFsignal.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the received beacon comprisesa laser signal.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the received beacon isreceived at a first time, the calculation act defining the structuralthermal deformation at the first time, the method further comprising:updating a model of the thermal deformation over time based upon thecalculated thermal deformation at the first time.
 9. The method of claim8, further comprising: predicting a structural thermal deformation at asecond time using the updated model.
 10. A spacecraft operable tomeasure structural thermal deformation between a payload and at leastone attitude sensor configured to determine an attitude of thespacecraft, comprising: a beacon sensor co-located with the payload; anda processor configured to calculate the structural thermal deformationbetween the at least one attitude sensor and the payload using anephemeris of the first and second spacecraft, a direction of thereceived beacon with respect to spacecraft attitude, and the spacecraftattitude.
 11. The spacecraft of claim 10, wherein the payload comprisesa phased array antenna.
 12. The spacecraft of claim 10, wherein thepayload comprises a laser.
 13. The spacecraft of claim 10, wherein thepayload mounts to a gimbaled platform, the spacecraft further comprisingat least one payload gimbal position sensor to provide gimbal angularposition data.
 14. The spacecraft of claim 10, wherein the beacon sensorcomprises the payload.
 15. The spacecraft of claim 10, wherein the atleast one attitude sensor comprises a star tracker.
 16. The spacecraftof claim 10, wherein the beacon sensor comprises an antenna.
 17. Thespacecraft of claim 10, wherein the beacon sensor comprises a lasersensor.
 18. A satellite system configuration comprising: a beacon sourcein a first Earth orbiting spacecraft; a beacon sensor in a second Earthorbiting spacecraft to receive the beacon from the beacon source, thebeacon sensor being co-located with a gimbal-mounted payload; means fordetermining a first direction vector for the received beacon in aspacecraft frame of reference that does not include thermal deformationand for determining a second direction vector for the received beaconthat does include thermal deformation; and means for determining thermaldeformation angles that are used to correct for the thermal deformationbased upon the first and second direction vectors.
 19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the beacon sensor comprises the spacecraft payload.20. The system of claim 18, wherein the beacon source is a laser source.